Random Story
by Kalikuks
Summary: A Random one shot story I wrote while in Regina at 3:00 in the morning. Characters: Kanrik and my OC Scarlet.


"Hey! Wait!"

Kanrik spun around and to face the owner of the voice. Unsurprisingly, it was Scarlet. Kanrik sighed. Why he had allowed the run away gelertess to tag along with him he still didn't know. They'd met a month ago when he'd saved the female from a group of drunkards. In return for not ratting out the gelert thief to the gelertess' father, Kanrik agreed to helping the grey-coloured gelertess run away from her altadorian home. She ran away due to an unwanted betrothal to a man she did not love. Her name wasn't Scarlet, either. Kanrik did not know her real name; she had changed it in order to put her past behind her. She started tagging along with Kanrik in hopes of picking up some skills in thievery to help her start up a new life on her own. Hopefully that didn't take too long, Kanrik wanted her out of his hair as fast as possible. Though, the red haired gelertess was too sweet and vulnerable to survive in the world on her own. Nor did she seem fit for the hard life of the thief. She certainly wasn't ready to be a thief by the Thieves' Guild standards. This is why she wasn't allowed to follow him to the Thieves' Guild. That, and the fact that you had to be a thief.

The Thieves' Guild was actually where Kanrik was headed. As the leader, he often had to return to it in order to monitor how his thieves were doing. When he had to leave for the guild now, he had to find some where safe for Scarlet to stay until Kanrik returned for her. He had found an old rundown cabin for her in the forest outside a small village. But apparently the female had other plans.

"Scarlet," Kanrik began, turning towards her "what are you doing?"

The unusually cheerful grey gelertess stopped a few feet away from the gelert thief. She rocked nervously on her foot-paws and looked up at him innocently with her large emerald green eyes. The female was holding a wrapped package.

"Well," She began, "I noticed that when you leave, you never pack any food for the trip." The female held out the package to Kanrik. "I made this for you. If you want it…"

The gelert thief was about to tell her he didn't need any thing when the scent of the food in the package hit his nose.

"Uh… thank you." Kanrik said, taking the package from her.

She smiled warmly at him. "You're welcome."

Kanrik looked over at the shorter female. She was thin and her fur was a paler shade then most grey gelerts. She looked like she was more suited to the life of a wealthy house wife than a thief. She wasn't drop dead gorgeous, but she had certain cuteness about her. Scarlet was what Kanrik had described before, vulnerable and sweet. She definatly was too frail to be a thief.

"Is something wrong?"

Kanrik snapped out of his analysis of the female and looked her in the eye. She was leaned towards him a bit, looking up at him worriedly.

"Nothing. Why?" Kanrik snapped at her accidentally.

She flinched away from him slightly. "You were looking at me funny…"

"You're imagining things." He said turning around. "You should go back to the cabin now Scarlet."

She nodded somewhat sadly, turning around. "Uh… Kanrik?"

"What?" He snapped again, more then slightly annoyed at her delay.

She flinched slightly again. "Just… Be careful okay." Then the gelertess turned and started retreating down the path she had traversed earlier to catch up to the thief.

Kanrik looked after her, slightly confused. He was far more than capable of taking care of himself, and yet the frailest gelertess he had ever laid eyes on was telling him to be careful. He watched her walk down the path for a little while. What caused her to worry about him? She should worry about herself.

"Scarlet."

The female wasn't that far away and heard him say her name.

"Yes?" She said, turning to face him.

"It's getting dark." Kanrik said, approaching her, "I should walk you back."

The gelert thief and the gelertess walked silently back to the cabin where Scarlet would reside until Kanrik came back to collect her.

"Kanrik?" Scarlet said after a short while.

"Scarlet?" He said in reply.

"Have you ever… been in love?" She said, turning her head to avoid his gaze.

"Once." Kanrik replied, looking at the female, trying to follow where this conversation was leading. "Why?"

"Did you love her?" She said ignoring his question.  
Kanrik sighed, stopping in the middle of the path. "Yes."

"Who was she?"

"Her name was Masila. She was the most beautiful Acara I'd ever seen."

"What happened?"

Kanrik looked at the gelertess. "She wasn't who I thought she was. She used me to try to gain power within the Thieves Guild. She betrayed me."

"Oh." Scarlet said sadly. No wonder the gelert thief was so cold. "She broke your heart…"

The thief said nothing more, continuing down the path. He heard Scarlet quicken her pace so she wouldn't be left behind.

"Was there anyone else after… her?" She asked softly.

"No."

There was a reason for that. Because of Masila's betrayal, Kanrik never trusted another woman with his heart again.  
Scarlet stayed quiet for a while. It was only when the cabin came into sight when she spoke up again.

"Do you think you'll ever get over her?"

Kanrik stopped to turn to her again, giving her an annoyed glare. "You're being really nosey tonight, you know that?"

Scarlet looked down guiltily. "I'm not meaning to, its just…"

"Just what?"

"Nothing." Scarlet said. Seizing the chance, she changed the subject. "I can walk from here, you should start heading to where ever it is you're going."

She started walking quickly down the path, only to find Kanrik standing in her way. She tried walking around him, but he only moved into her way.

"Kanrik…" She said, trying to find a way around him.

"You're hiding something from me…" He said, continuing to block the gelertess. "I'm not letting you past until I know what it is."

She looked up at him, exasperated. "And if I don't want to tell you tonight?"

"Then you better hope the ground is comfortable to sleep on." Kanrik said, crossing his arms in front of him.

She avoided his gaze. "Just let me past…"

"Is it that bad?" He asked, raising an eyebrow over one of his intelligent blue eyes.

"No. Just let me past!" She said.

Suddenly, the gelertess made a run for it, trying to duck down so the gelert couldn't block her. But the thief was faster than she had anticipated and grabbed her arm before she got too far.

"Hey! Lemme-go!" She cried, trying to wriggle out of his grasp.

"Just tell me what's on your mind, and then I'll let you go."

She shook her head from side to side, causing her red hair to become messier then normal.

"You're being childish." She said, pulling his hand off of her arm. "If I want you to know I'll tell you."

"Why can't you tell me now?" Kanrik asked, grabbing her and turning her back to face him when she attempted to walk away again.

"Because…"

"'Because' is not an answer." Kanrik said, crossing his arms in front of his chest again. "Why won't you tell me?"

The gelertess shifted nervously. Running wasn't an option any more because she wouldn't be able to out run him. And he probably wasn't going to forget about this any time soon, which meant he was going to demand an answer from her constantly. She sighed, she really didn't want to tell him, at least not until she knew something about him.

"Kanrik…" Scarlet began, "I'll tell you but first I need to know something."

"Fine… shoot."

She shifted her weight from one foot-paw to the other "What do you think of me?"

"…What?"

Kanrik just stared at the grey female. She wanted to know what he thought of her.

What did he think of her?

"Well… Uh… You're a really good cook." He started, "And you're really cheerful, despite the fact that you're grey."

"That's not what I meant." Scarlet said softly. "I wanted to know… if you think of me… like as in…"

"Scarlet…" Kanrik said, "Are you asking me if I think of you as… a possible mate? Like, girlfriend material?"

She blushed, looked down and nodded. "Which leads to what I'm going to tell you…" She said softly, her blush deepening. She took a deep breath and returned her gaze to him. "I love you."

Kanrik stared at her. Both were silent for the longest time. Suddenly Scarlet turned away from him quickly.

"I knew it!" She said, her voice breaking, "You're still in love with Masila… I'm sorry; don't pay any attention to me. Forget what I just said, it was wishful thinking any way."

Suddenly she felt Kanrik grab her arm and pull her into a hug. She nuzzled into him, glad that at least he'd try to comfort her even if he didn't love her.

"Scarlet." He said softly, pushing her away slightly. "I know I'm still not over Masila… but… as a thief… I tend to keep every thing I steal. And seeing that I've more or less stolen you're heart… I don't want it to be the only exception."

She sniffed loudly, and looked up at him, "But… are you okay with that?"

He sighed and nodded. "Getting over Masila won't be easy for me… but I think you can help me with that…"

She nodded. "Okay." She hugged him tightly, "I'll try my best."

"That's all I'm asking."


End file.
